Fish – Internal Exile

It’s a comparison that has dogged Fish throughout his professional career, but it’s hard to listen to his music — either his work with Marillion or his solo albums — and not be reminded of prime-period Genesis, when Peter Gabriel was fronting the band.

It’s not only because his voice uncannily recalls Gabriel’s and that the musical approach is heavily influenced by Selling England By the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but it’s also because Gabriel has stopped recording the kind of fruity, pompous prog-rock that dominates Fish’s second full-fledged solo album, Internal Exile.

That might sound like a harsh criticism, but it’s meant as a compliment, simply because in 1991 — or for that matter, the ’90s — nobody does classic British prog as well as Fish. True, Internal Exile relies a bit too much on contemporary studio techniques, resulting in a clean, almost sterile sound, but it’s appropriate for such precise, mannered music.

At times, it’s a little too mannered, but much of the album delivers exactly what Fish and Marillion fans need — and what old-school Genesis fans have been waiting to hear.